LAS CRUCES - In the west Las Cruces-based District 4 city council seat, three men are contending to fill an impending vacancy on the seven-member city council.

There's no incumbent in the race because City Councilor Nathan Small, who now holds the seat, is not seeking re-election.

The candidates are Jack Eakman, a retired nonprofit hospital administrator; Richard Hall, a gymnastics coach and small business owner; and Gilbert Vasquez, a hardware store employee and a retired pipe fitter who would need a governor's pardon to take office, if elected, because of a felony conviction in the 1980s.

Eakman, 72, said he was born and grew up in western Pennsylvania, but he left after high school to attend college in Indiana. He said he started a family and put college on hold for about 10 years, eventually returning to get a bachelor's degree in administration and a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Dakota.

In 1969, Eakman said, he started a job with the housekeeping division of a nonprofit hospital, launching a career that would culminate with him retiring in 1998 as second-in-command of the regional hospital network, which served parts of South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. He said he and his wife retired to a town in Montana and later bought a home in Las Cruces in 2006 with the aim of moving to the city permanently. He said the economy crash kept them from moving here until about 2011.

Eakman, a progressive Democrat, has been attending city council and county commission meetings for a while. But he said he hadn't thought about running for city council until some residents urged him to consider it. He said his "top priority" is infrastructure, both rebuilding and maintenance, in aging areas of the city as a platform for economic development. And in District 4, he said residents are seeking "modest" improvements.

"They'd like to see revitalization of the area without losing any of the cultural qualities that enrich their lives," he said. "That can be done. In working with fellow councilors, I think we can find solutions to those very modest requests."

City council races aren't on a partisan ballot, but residents often are interested in knowing the party affiliations of candidates.

Hall, 58, a Republican, said he spent much of his childhood in Colorado. But he lived for a stint in Las Cruces because his dad worked for the NASA test facility on the East Mesa. He said he attended Loma Heights Elementary soon after it was built.

Hall said he graduated from a high school in suburb of Denver and attended Arizona State University on a gymnastics scholarship.

Hall said he got a job which entailed a lot of traveling and then coached gymnastics. In 1986, he started his own gymnastics club in Casa Grande, Arizona. He said he married his wife in 1994 and started a motivational speaking enterprise in which he promoted physical and emotional health.

"It was a motivational speech about why you don't smoke or do drugs, and why fitness pays in many ways," he said.

Hall said they retired in 1999, and his wife wanted to move to Las Cruces. Hall said he's coached 16 years at a nonprofit gym and has a company that does light construction. He also owns Cinnamon Roasted Nuts, a kiosk that opens seasonally in the Mesilla Valley Mall.

Hall has said he was motivated to run for council after attending a campaign event for Eli Guzman, who's running for the District 1 city council seat. And he said he didn't see a candidate in the District 4 field he felt he could support. He said he wants the city to be more business-friendly and reduce impact fees, which he believes will boost jobs.

"The best thing a city can do is make the city polices favorable to someone who wants to open a business," he said. "I think the city cannot regulate so much but can invite business by lowering those fees and reducing regulations and red tape."

Vasquez, 58, said his family has roots in the La Mesa and Chamberino area, and he was born in the old city hospital in Las Cruces. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was about 10 years old, he said. He graduated from high school there and "tried several different jobs," becoming a pipe fitter and getting his journeyman's card.

In 2004, he said he moved back to New Mexico because of his family. He said he was working on projects at Fort Bliss. He said he decided to retire in 2006 and has been in Las Cruces since. For six years, he said, he's had a job at a hardware store on Picacho Avenue, "and I love it."

Vasquez was convicted of an aggravated battery charge stemming from a 1984 arrest. And, while he can run for city office, state law prohibits him from taking the seat, unless he's pardoned by the governor. Vasquez doesn't meet Gov. Susana Martinez's pardon guidelines, NMpolitics.net has reported. But she could still pardon him if she chooses.

Vasquez said he decided to run because "I didn't hear anybody talking about bettering the community." And he said he feels District 4 has been neglected.

"I heard people talking about strangleholds on business, and I heard another person talking about progressive issues," he said. "I didn't hear anybody saying: 'I want to make Picacho (Avenue) better looking.'"

City officials have pointed to a series of changes within city processes in recent months aimed at improving the efficiency of business permitting and inspections. Critics have acknowledged improvements have happened but some say there's still room for improvement.

GOAL WestPAC, a political action committee with ties to oil and gas interests that's spending heavily in the city elections, has endorsed Hall in the race. The Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce also has endorsed him.

Minimum wage

Hall said he backs putting a freeze on further minimum wage increases. He said he spoke with a woman who received a wage hike with the first phase of the minimum wage implementation in January, but her hours were also reduced.

"I would put it on hold until will get more information about what the effects would be," he said. "The real effect of these things that government does to business doesn't always pan out the way it should."

The second phase of the city's minimum wage hike is set to take effect in January 2017; the third phase — $10.10 per hour — is set to take effect January 2019.

Eakman said he supports keeping the minimum wage ordinance unchanged. But he said he's open to evidence "from a reliable source" that could lead him to change his mind.

"While my mind is not closed on it, I've never seen a minimum wage increase that truly hurt the economy or hurt businesses," he said.

Eakman said he dealt with nine minimum wage increases as a hospital administrator. He said he was "terrified" at first as he tried to figure out how to deal with them. But he said ultimately the hospital got more business as a result.

Vasquez said he does support the minimum wage ordinance being left in place. He said the thousands of petition signatures gathered as part of an NM CAFé campaign "spoke loud and clear."

"Even if I was against minimum wage, it would impress me," he said. "I would realize I was outnumbered. My whole purpose in running is to raise the volume of the community."

Sales tax hike

City councilors OK'd a 3/8 of 1 percent sales tax that took effect in mid-2014. Officials said it is meant to recoup tax dollars that will be lost after the state Legislature began clawing back a certain pool of funding, called Hold Harmless payments, over a 15-year period. But others have criticized the tax, saying it hurts business or that there wasn't a solid plan in place for spending before it was passed.

Vasquez said he didn't support the sales tax hike. He said there wasn't enough "community awareness" about the tax, and a spending plan wasn't in place.

"We should have had a plan from the very beginning about what we're going to do with that revenue," he said.

Hall said in general he supports lower taxes and no tax increases.

Eakman said because a portion of the sales tax has been bonded against, it can't be rolled back without affecting the credit rating of the city. He said he agrees with discussed spending categories — economic development, streets and facility improvements — that "have a positive return, so that we're not having to raise taxes down the road." But the spending should be well-informed.

"I'm not one for pie in the sky, bright and shiny decisions," he said. "These have to be evidence-based."

Other goals

Eakman said, if elected, he plans to coordinate a neighborhood advisory panel to promote communication with constituents. The panel would meet about 10 months per year to talk about problems or issues that need addressing in their areas, he said.

"Our goal would be to be unified and to prioritize" needs, he said.

Eakman also has expressed support for a new acute mental health care hospital that would serve the southern part of the state. He said he sees a major gap in services now, and a hospital would create jobs.

Vasquez said he feels there's room to start a grassroots campaign to push for improvements along Picacho Avenue and other areas of the district. He said he doesn't believe it would take taxpayer money, but rather leadership and coordination. He said he'd host monthly constituent meetings at a local community center.

Hall said impact fees, assessed on new development, are a hindrance to new construction.

"Without the impact fees, it would rebuild the homebuilding industry and start making an increase in homes built and homes bought," he said.

Eakman said he understands there's a perception of the city being unfriendly to business but he thinks improvements already have been made. He said he's interested in more "performance indicators" being given to the city council to gauge government's effectiveness.

The salary for a city councilor, including in District 4, is $29,557 yearly, according to the city.

The final day of early voting is Saturday, when it runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. city clerk's office, 700 N. Main St., Las Cruces.

Election day is Tuesday. Voting will take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at 14 locations across the city.

Reporter Diana Alba Soular may be reached at 575-541-5443 or dalba@lcsun-news.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AlbaSoular

Cast your vote

The final day of early voting is Saturday, when it runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Election day is Nov. 3. Voting will take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at 14 locations across the city.